Written Answers Tuesday 5 August 2008

Scottish Executive

Council Tax

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average council tax bill has been in each local authority area in each year since 1997, also providing a Scottish average for each year.

John Swinney: The average council tax per dwelling is available at the following website:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance/DatasetsCouncilTax.

Environment

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reviewed the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on crops, following their ban in Germany due to evidence that their use is connected to the reduction of the honeybee population.

Richard Lochhead: All pesticides are subjected to a rigorous approval process before they are approved by ministers for use. In the case of neonicotinoid pesticides the risks posed to insects and bees were researched and assessed as part of that approval process.

  The situation in Germany appears to be the result of an error in the application of a seed treatment containing the active substance clothianidin, a neonicotinoid pesticide. Clothianidin is not widely used in Scotland and Scottish ministers are not aware of any problem affecting bees as a consequence of its use here. We will, however, keep a close watch on the situation with seed treatments and clothianidin in particular.

Environment

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on crops until research on their impact on the honeybee population has been carried out.

Richard Lochhead: Scottish ministers have no plans to request the suspension of the approvals for neonicotinoid pesticides.

Farming

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new entrants to farming there have been as a result of the new entrants scheme.

Richard Lochhead: The new entrants measure, along with other measures included within Land Management Contracts - Rural Priorities, opened for submission of proposals in July 2008. It is too early, therefore, for the measure to have had a quantifiable impact on the number of new entrants to farming.

Farming

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it will allocate to the new entrants scheme for farmers in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11.

Richard Lochhead: Funding for measures within the Scotland rural development programme is allocated over the life of the programme (2007 to 2013) and not on an annual basis. The indicative financial breakdown includes £10 million for the new entrants measure.

Marine Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to implement the provisions of the EU marine strategy framework directive, in particular for planning at a regional seas scale, and how it is co-ordinating these with the UK Government and other EU member states.

Richard Lochhead: Discussion is ongoing with the UK Government about the most appropriate way to transpose and implement the marine strategy framework directive. Our current Scottish marine bill consultation Sustainable Seas for All , http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/07/11100221/0 , includes proposals for policy initiatives, such as marine planning, which will be needed to implement this directive.

Mortality

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the increased winter mortality (a) figures and (b) index were for 2007-08 for (i) Scotland and (ii) each NHS board area, also broken down into age groups (A) 0 to 64, (B) 65 to74, (C) 75 to 84 and (D) 85 and over.

John Swinney: The information requested is not available at present, because it is necessary to compare the number of deaths in the four "winter" months (December to March) with those in the four subsequent months, which have just finished. The information will be published by the General Register Office for Scotland in October 2008, and will then be available, along with the corresponding figures for some earlier years, at:

  http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/increased-winter-mortality/index.html.

Nuclear Power

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has undertaken regarding the role of new nuclear power stations in reducing carbon emissions.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has not commissioned or undertaken any studies on the role of new   nuclear power stations in helping to reduce carbon emissions.

  The Scottish Government believes that Scotland neither wants nor needs new nuclear power. We believe that improved energy efficiency measures, together with renewable energy generation and clean coal and carbon capture technology, will meet our energy requirements, while also contributing to our 2050 emissions reductions target.

Nuclear Waste

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many facilities in Scotland, including oil installations and related sites, have stored nuclear waste and how much waste has been stored at each of these facilities in each year since 1999.

Richard Lochhead: The detailed inventory of radioactive wastes is published by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which can be found online at:

  http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/The-2007-UK-Radioactive-Waste-Inventory-Main-Report-Final.pdf

  Information on the oil industry is not held centrally.

Rural Development

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications it has received to the Scottish Rural Development Programme, excluding Rural Development Contracts – Rural Priorities, broken down by constituency.

Richard Lochhead: This information is not held centrally. However, I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-14667 on 25 July 2008, which states that a total of 16,263 applications have been received to date under the SRDP, excluding Rural Development Contracts - Rural Priorities. The total number of applications received for each of the other seven mechanisms, is shown in the following table. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  

Mechanism
Applications Received to Date


LEADER
107


Land Managers’ Options
3303


Less Favoured Area Support Scheme
12531


Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation
42


Forestry Challenge Funds
0


Skills Development
0


Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme
280